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Economic Prosperity

Oct 23, 2018

Secretary Sebelius, Ohioans Speak Out on What’s at Stake for Ohioans’ Health Care in the Governor’s Race

Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and Ohio native Kathleen Sebelius visited Ohio Tuesday for a multi-city tour to discuss what’s at stake for Ohioans and their health care in the upcoming midterm elections. At stops in Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati, Secretary Sebelius was joined by health care experts and Ohioans with pre-existing conditions to speak out against Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s attacks on health care, and to call on Ohio voters to support Richard Cordray for governor.

“[Mike DeWine’s] promise to Ohioans that he will have their back, that he will make sure that insurance companies don’t ever again pick and choose who have coverage, that he will keep Medicaid expansion in place is just not true,” said former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. “His record speaks much more loudly than his campaign promises, and he’s on record over and over again trying to strike down the protections for health care for millions of people here in Ohio.”

Secretary Sebelius was the named defendant in Mike DeWine’s lawsuit to end the Affordable Care Act, including the law’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

Susan Hyde of Grandview Heights joined Secretary Sebelius at a stop outside the Ohio Statehouse, where she shared the story of her daughter. Hyde’s daughter was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 3 years old and underwent two years of chemotherapy.

Although Hyde’s daughter, now 20 years old, is healthy, Hyde is concerned that her daughter could be denied health insurance or pay much more for health insurance if Republicans like Mike DeWine strip away protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

“It was a huge relief to me when the Affordable Care Act guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions because I didn’t have to worry quite so much about her future,” said Susan Hyde. “Mike DeWine joined a Republican lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act in 2011 on his first day in office. Even though he is now saying he supports coverage for pre-existing conditions, I do not trust him to protect my daughter’s access to health insurance.”

“We need a governor who will stand up for all Ohioans. We need Rich Corday as our governor to ensure a healthy future for all of us,” added Susan Hyde.

In Dayton, Dr. Richard Smith, a retired Dayton-area pediatrician, discussed why protections for people with pre-existing conditions are so important to the nearly 5 million Ohioans with a pre-existing condition, including young children.

“Under the old system before the Affordable Care Act, I had parents who refused preventative screening tests because they didn’t want to risk having their children labeled with a diagnosis that would make them uninsurable,” said Dr. Richard Smith.

“Mike DeWine fought to sabotage the Affordable Care Act and its protection against being denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions. Richard Cordray will fight to make sure those of us with pre-existing conditions are insurable like everyone else,” Dr. Richard Smith added.